How much of an amp would an Alpine Type R sub (12 in) need?

Question

The 12 inch is 1500w peak and 500w rms. Would I want an amp to match the rms? I've been told that if an amp is labeled as 1000 watts, its actually 500 watt rms.

So basically, would a bridged 2 ch 1000 watt amp suffice? and would this be under or overpowered?

Answer 1

It is not possible to tell if that sub will work with that amp with that information.  

You would want to match the RMS power handling of the sub to the power of the amp.  So the best amp would be 500w RMS.  However, a 2-channel would likely not be the best amp.

Since that sub comes in a 4 ohm DVC and 2 ohm DVC model there are different amps that you need.

If you have the 4 ohm DVC version then a good amp would be a monoblock amp that is 500w RMS x 1 @ 2 ohms.  If you wanted to get a 2-channel amp you would have to either get one that is 250w RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms and wire 1 voice coil to each channel, or get a 2-channel that is 500w RMS x 1 @ 2 ohms bridged.  The monoblock amp is your best option because I would not suggest wiring one voice coil to each channel unless you were very experienced with installing.

If you have the 2 ohm version then you have some more options.  The most practical one would be to get a monoblock amp that is 500w RMS @ either 1 or 4 ohms.  If you got a 2-channel amp then you would want to get one that is 500w RMS x 1 @ 4 ohms bridged.

That should help you a little.  If you find some amps post them with the model numbers and we can let you know if they are good choices or not.

Good Luck!!!

Edit: If you get the 4 phm version (SWR-1242D) of the Type-R then that amp will work perfectly.

Answer 2

give it 500 watts from a quality company ....jl rockford memphis digital designs etc

Answer 3

give the sub the rms value. as for bridging the amp, i would need to know more info about it to tell you.